May 18, 2026 • 28 mins
The Move the Sticks duo concludes its two-part series with an episode on four AFC teams that are destined to return to the playoffs next season. Bucky Brooks and Lance Zierlein cover the offseason acquisitions, draft picks and additional factors that suggest a return-to-form for the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals and Indianapolis Colts in 2026.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
We're going to move to sticks and Bucky Brooks and
once again my man LZ is on the ones and
two's helping me out whatever lance while you're.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Doing it's all right. I got my headphones on going
from the one to the two.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
It's so funny, man.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
The league is so crazy, like we have seen the
topsy turvy nature, the parody of it. All. Other sports
wish that they could really compare and create the interest
that the NFL does. And one of the reasons why
the NFL is always so interesting is just, man, we
are hope dealers. With the conversation that comes out of
(00:41):
free agency and the draft. If you're pulling for a team,
you're a hopeful and optimistic that your team can get
it done in an offseason and bounce back. We talked
about on the last episode where we saw the Patriots
bounce back right away and end up in the super Bowl.
We saw the Seattle Seahawks come from outside uh the
tournament to the inside of tournament and win it.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
And this year there's gonna be some teams.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
On average, it's always four or five new teams that
make the tournament that find a way to do it.
So this week or this episode, we're gonna talk about
the AFC and how the AFC gets down to one
thing that we know about the AFC. Quarterback play typically
drives which teams are in and which teams are out.
So give me a team, Lance, that's you, that's your hot.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
It's funny you you just hit us with that setup.
And yet the teams I'm looking at it in the AFC,
A lot of them were you know, these are former
either high level AFC teams or even former Super Bowl teams.
So the AFC is a little different because you had
so many injuries to quarterbacks and and and top teams
(01:47):
that fell off last year. Well, I'm betting that some
of those teams make their way back in. And I'm
gonna start with the Baltimore Ravens. So the Baltimore Ravens,
we know they lost John Harball. We'll see how big
that loss is gonna be. We talked about it on
the last episode. We think it's very beneficial for the
Giants to have John Harball. When you look at when
(02:10):
you look at the Ravens, I think you're looking at
two things here. How does Lamar Jackson play this year?
You know, how how does how does he does he
get back into form? Does he stay healthy? That's that's
a huge one. But then how does Trey Hendrickson What
impact does he have on this team? Because he is
someone who does get to the quarterback. We know they
(02:31):
they swung and missed on the Max Crosby thing because
the medicals, that is what it is. But they you know,
they they backed that up with the deal for Trey
Hendrickson having that rush. I look at that division. I'm
not convinced the Browns are ready to win. We're going
to talk about the Bengals in just in just a second.
In the AFC. The Pittsburgh Steelers, to me, they feel
(02:53):
they still feel like they're a team in transition. I'm
not sure that they have the quarterback play where they
need to make that move. So I see the Raves
as just another year. I think they come back up.
They are going to be the team to beat that
in that AFC North, And the most important thing I
think is going to be having that rush. I think
(03:13):
Trey Hendrickson having that rush, getting Lamar Jackson dialed back in.
Whether you know whether he had any issue with Harbaugh
or not, you know, there was that stuff was out there,
and then both of the parties said, no, that's not true.
I just know that we have a fresh start with
the Ravens. Let's see how they rally around mentor jesse
Ment with the new head coach. But Bucky, I'm of
(03:34):
the mind that we looked at some really challenging, potentially
challenging NFC East looks like it's going to be very competitive.
The NFC North is extremely competitive. I look at the
AFC North and I look at it a little differently.
I think the Ravens they've been there, They've done that.
I think it's back to the old, familiar back in
the playoffs this year for them.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Oh absolutely, Look man, it was I really don't understand
how they missed out on the playoffs. Just all apart
for them for whatever reason. People will say that maybe
the voice got a little still in the locker room.
John Harbor have been there for almost two decades. Maybe
they just need to refreshing the message around the building.
I'll say this, Jesse Mener is going to operate in
a very similar fashion to John Harbaugh.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Like the Ravens way is the Ravens way. They talked
about it.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
The way they play the physicality and toughness, that's all
a part of their DNA, but they needed some players
to help them. Trey Henderson certainly helps them get back
to that. And then you know, we've talked about it,
like when the Ravens draft guys, you can close your
eyes and be like, yep, that's the rich And I
know we're gonna talk about Bavega yone a ton in
(04:41):
that offense and how they're gonna rebuild the trenches. But
to me, Zion Young was the one, Like when I
looked at him, I was like, heavy handed guy, that's
gonna play on the edges and do that.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
I was like, how many times have we seen this?
Speaker 1 (04:52):
The Darius Smith and others that have played there that
exibit those qualities, Matt Yudon that diipit those qualities. The
Ravens are the Ravens because they have a prototype, and
that prototype is one they tend to lean on. And
when they do that, and they have a collection of
those prototypes, they beat you in prototypical fashion in a
very physical way. And so I'm excited to see that
(05:14):
and how they bounce back. But then really a lot
of it is on Lamar Jackson Lamar Jackson. As he's losing,
I'll say this, some of his athleticism, can he continue
to rise up as a playmaker from the pocket that
has to rely on as arm That will determine if
the Ravens are able to go to the next level,
Because as some of the athleticism comes down and goes away,
(05:38):
can he become more efficient and effective in a pocket
where he can just slice and dice with surgical precision
and beat you as a passer and an exclusive passer
as opposed to the dual threat that he's been most
of his career.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I think to win at the highest level, they have
to have Derick Henry's getting up there in age and
certainly up there and carries. Having Derrick Henry and then
that second back, I guess it's still going to be
Justice Hill having that running game. I just we've seen enough.
While we know Lamar can make a ton of great plays.
Lamar's consistency has has certainly gone up and down in
(06:15):
the playoffs. It's just it's it's not debatable. It's it's
all there on tape, it's all there on paper wherever
you want to look for it. So the best way
to help Lamar Jackson out so that Lamar Jackson can
help you out. Is to make sure that Derrick Henry
in that running game is as good as possible. And
when I look up and down, you know they added
Derm Smythe as a second tight end in place of
(06:37):
Isaiah Likely. What you did was you added a better block.
So from a tight end standpoint, you added the ability
to block a little better at the point of attack.
Because Mark Andrews is we know he's going to be
more of a pass catching tight end. You added John Simpson,
who is a veteran starter in the league coming over
from the Jets. I think John Simpson is going to
be a plug and play starter who will be solid.
(06:58):
I don't know if he's going to be great, but
it'll be solid. That's all you want.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Up front.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Venga Iwani, as you mentioned, is ready to step in
and be a plus guard off the bat, one of
the safer picks in the draft. But he's gonna be
playing next to Corey Bullock. Now, who's Corey Bullock. I'm
glad you asked. That's the starting center right now. One
of the guys. Danny Pinter from Indianapolis Jovon Gwynn who
(07:25):
came over from Atlanta. I mean, they're all gonna be
fighting for Nick Dawkins free agent is gonna be They're
all fighting for a job as a starting center. Can
they replace Tyler Linderbaum? How important do you think losing
that center is it? Center's usually known as the brain trust.
We know they lost a really really good center and
Linderbaum who went to the Raiders. How difficult. You got
(07:46):
two new guards next to him. One is a veteran
starter in John Central with size, the other one is
a first round guard with a lot of talent. How
how important or what role do you think think losing
that center is going to make? Is that overestimated in
this particular case, or do you think it's a legitimate
concern right now for the Ravens.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
No, no, no, I think that's a legitimate concern because ty
the Lindenbaum is a Pro Bowl caliber player and we'll
see quickly in Las Vegas the impact that he has
for the Ravens. Look, he's the brains of the outfit,
and when you have someone that does so much at
the line of scrimmage, it is certainly going to hurt. Now,
some of that will go on the replacement. A lot
of it will now fall to Lamar Jackson to be
(08:29):
able to kind of orchestrate and manage everything at the
line of scrimmage, where maybe linden Baum share some of
those responsibility, maybe he did most of those responsibilities, So
it'll be a bit of a change. But I will
say this, the one thing that I see from the
Ravens offensive line is man, They're big, they're physical, and
they're violent. And when you have big Derrick Henry running
behind them, it's a problem. And then when you add
(08:50):
Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson running behind that front, it's
an even bigger problem. The Ravens just have to settle
in in terms of who they want to be offensively
and make sure that their defense compliments that.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
I have no qualms about the defense on the Jesse Minner.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
The biggest question in the million dollar The question is
what does this offense look like? How do they run
it and who they run it through? When he gets
down to the nitty gritty, yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
You know their defense. Now, they suffered injuries and they
got back on track later in the season. There was
a time during the season where they were atrocious and
you look at the final numbers here. They were twenty
fourth in the league in total yards. That's not Ravens football.
They were eighteenth in the league in points per game.
But when you look at you got Nomde Matabuike, Travis Jones,
(09:37):
Broderick Washington up front, Rokwan Smith there in the middle.
You've added Trey Hendrickson. You've added, as you mentioned, Zion Young,
who if you guys don't know Zion Young, Bucky described
him perfectly. I mean, this is just a really ultra
physical block destructing run defender who's got to get a
little bit better against the pass. But they've got some
(09:58):
talent in the second as well. You need Marlin Hulp
free to play consistently. Malachi Starks is going to have
to prove themselves still. But Nate Wiggins is talented, Kyle
Hamilton is talented. I mean, there's no reason for this
defense this year. If they stay healthy, there's no reason
for them not to be a top ten unit in
both points allowed and yards per game allowed. They should
(10:19):
be top ten. They should get back to where they were.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Man, you talk about getting back to where they were,
did division rival the Cincinnati Bengals are hoping to get
back to where they once were, which was a super
Bowl team, and some would say, if not for maybe
a Tiki Tak kennalty, they should have been Super Bowl champions.
But the Bengals have struggled the last few years. Defense
has been atrocious, abysmal, any of those bad words to
(10:42):
describe things that are bad. They've been that on defense.
But now they get Dexter Lawrence. They bring a handful
of vets over. They go in the draft and kind
of add some more pieces to the puzzle to go
with an offense that can be and should be lights
out with Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase and T Higgins. What
are we thinking about the Bingles them coming back?
Speaker 2 (11:03):
I mean I talked about the reason I like the
Ravens to jump back on top. The same thing for
the Bengals. I think the Steelers and the and the Bengals,
I mean Steelers and Browns, I'm not really sold on them.
So we're left with the Bengals. What do we think
about the Bengals. Well, we know they've got an ultra
talented quarterback and a couple of wide receivers who are
as good or better than everyone else in the league.
We know that for a fact from a running standpoint,
(11:25):
Chase Brown does a nice job of doing exactly what
they're looking for. In Cincinnati. They are sitting pat for
the most part. They did make a couple of picks
in the offense on the offensive line that I like,
Brian Parker and Connor Loo. In my estimation, they have
a chance by next year to be competing for starting
(11:46):
jobs Connor Loo at the center spot, going up against
Ted Carris and then and then Brian Parker, you know,
potentially battling for Dalton Risner spot at the right guard.
So I like a couple of those moves that they
made in free agency. I still think the offensive line
is still really really average, but on the defensive side
(12:07):
of the ball, but they've got enough on offense that
they can score with most teams, so I'm not that
worried there. What they did on defense, this is the
key why I think they've got a shot, because they
added a pass rusher and cashes how that's something that
they really need, especially with Trey Hendrickson gone, Like it's huge,
but they've got to have somebody who can rush. He's
a rookie, so how much can you.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Count on him.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I'm not sure, but you mentioned Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen.
They got much better up the middle. Boye Mafe is
the guy who will you know, he'll give you some
hard play, a charge forward. He's not a great pass rusher,
but he has gotten I think to the nine sack
mark one time in Seattle a couple of years ago.
(12:49):
The secondary they got talent. I love the addition of
Brian Cook into their secondary. Kyle Dugart they're going to
see if he still has something left and they've added
him as a backup there. So when you look at
the the complete I expect the linebacking corps. They were
much maligned last year, but I think Demetrius Knight and
Carter Barrett or Barrett Carter, I think both both linebackers
are going to play better this year. This is Barrett's
(13:13):
or this is Carter's third year in the league. This
is Demetrius Knight's second year in the league. I think
linebacker play gets better. Defensive line, you lost Hendrickson, but
on the whole it's more talented. In my estimation. The
question is can you be consistent defensively? And I think
the secondary in my opinion, gives you a chance to
have some consistency. You've got level one and Level three
(13:34):
should be more consistent this year. And then you add
the offense, which you already believe is going to be
a you know, a strong offense. Why not? Why not?
Why not? The Cincinnati Bengals, I know Joe Burrow is
getting tired of not making the playoffs. I think that's
where a lot of his frustration last year. Standy openly questioned,
you know, it sounded like a question how much he
loved football.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Still.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I would typically be worried about that if I were
an organization, But with Joe, I think it's just frustration
that he loves to win and he's getting tired of
not being in the tournament.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Look, I think that's a big part of it. When
you're not in the tournament, you get frustrated. He's the
alternate competitor when it comes to playing and leading his
team to victory, and so yeah, it's problematic when his
team is not in it. And so we'll see if
the Bengals can bounce back. Look, there's a lot riding
on this for Zach Taylor. They have to get back
into the postseason mix, or there may be a new
guy in charge in Cincinnati. Speaking of new guys in charge,
(14:31):
one of the reasons why the Bengals defense may have
fall the part is because the Colts now have lou
and Aarumo as their defensive coordinator, and two years ago
he was really good, dull enough for the Bengals. The
Bengals didn't think that he was good enough to get
it done. So now he's in his second year with
the Colts, and the Colts are on this list because
they have the makings of being a team that really
(14:52):
really makes it happen. We talked about that division. You're
talking about how people are building their teams to win
the division. The AC South is real and I know,
like people that don't pay attention to the Jags and
the Texans don't know.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
How physical that division is.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
But the Indianapolis Colts are getting closer and closer to
those guys. And last you remember, they started out seven
to one before Daniel Jones kind of fell.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Apart before the injury.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
There's a lot of things to like about the Colts
and why they should be successful in this run under
Daniel Jones.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yeah, so you lose Zire Franklin. You replace him with
CJ Allen, second round pick from Georgia. CJ still got
to learn. He's a rookie, so I'm not gonna I'm
not saying he's better than that. He's going to play
better than Zire Franklin. I think you got a pretty
good player to plug into the middle, and he's a
green dot linebacker. He's someone who will really really work
(15:44):
well with Louie an Arumo. I think he's a good
fit for them. Defensively. AJ Halsey was one of my
favorite linebackers. They got him in a third round and
they will replace Nick Cross with AJ Halsey. That's an
upgrade in my estimation. So I think they get better
in the secondary. Sauce Gardner back healthy makes all the
difference in the world. The real key though, here, Bucky,
(16:05):
is you know the Texans still have questions to answer
with their offense. I think they're going to be fine.
I actually think their offense is going to be much
much improved. They got to prove it. CJ. Stroud has
to prove that he's that guy. We have to see
Jacksonville prove that they can sustain what they were building.
Over the second half of last year, because, as you mentioned, man,
(16:28):
Daniel Jones looked like a different guy last year. Jonathan
Taylor was rolling downhill as he is wont to do.
So the whole key in my opinion. In my opinion
is can the Indianapolis Colts get the same play from
Daniel Jones this year that they got before his injury
last year, Because that Daniel Jones was steering the ship,
(16:50):
he was bringing the ship in most games. The Colts
had some games they lost the game to the Rams
that they could have won late in that game they
blew that one and in the second half of the
season it fell apart after Daniel Jones's injury. But what
I saw before that was a Coats team that reignited
their philosophy of running the football first and being a
(17:12):
physical team. They got back to what they considered to
be Colts football. Early in the season, Daniel Jones looked
like it was a reclamation project. So I'm curious. I
think they got a really I think they got a
real shot to make the playoffs here because the Daniel
Jones I saw before the injury and their desire, their
strong desire to get back to what they think is
(17:32):
Colts football, which is featuring Jonathan Taylor. What I saw
last year looked really really good. How does it look
in year two if he stays healthy?
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Yeah? No, I mean that's the thing we changed.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I can did a great job with Daniel Jones, getting
him up and run, and he looked confident.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
He was playing. Well.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Now what does he do for an encore performers. We
saw this happen with Brian dave Ball with Daniel Jones
in New York.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
It was great.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
They go to the playoffs and then it falls apart.
He isn't able to necessarily up to or play up
to expectation as a forty fifty million.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Dollars quarterback, so he has that weight of.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Expectations on him while also dealing with an achilles that
snapped on him last year. Can he bounce back? Can
he be the player they need him to be? And
Alec Pearce moves up, he levels up. He goes from
the wide receiver too that people didn't pay attention to.
He's averaging twenty yards per catch and scoring touchdowns on everybody,
routing people cooking them as young people say, well, now
(18:31):
he's the number one and when you become the number
one in that offense, like more attention. How does he
handle the weight of responsibility that comes with being the
number one and then just getting the ball to the
other playmate Josh Downs, Tyler Warren making sure that they
are factors in this offense and indefensively, what can they
do to continue to evolve? Evolve it like we are
(18:51):
still waiting to see some of these pass russues that
we talked about in drafts past for years show up.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
So these guys need to show up.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
And I know one thing, we both love Chris Ballad
and what he's done, and he is a traits guy.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Man.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
These traits have to turn into some kind of performance
in production. It's gonna be hard on to keep up
with their vision, Robb.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
They gotta get they got to get more rush. I mean,
there's no way around it. They've spent so much draft
capital and they put so much into rushing the quarterback.
I know that's huge over there. They really want that
in Indianapolis. Lat two's got to take step forward this year.
He's got to be one of those guys I think
who steps forward. There's only so much you can get
from the interior so the Edges are going to have
(19:33):
to start pressing a little stronger. Yeah, and coming back
from achilles, it's no given. That's a demanding position to
have an achilles injury. So we'll see him. And there's
two They didn't have a first round pick this year
and they won't have one this upcoming year, and then
in the twenty twenty seven draft because they gave that
up for for Sauce Gardner. So we'll see how Sauce performance.
(19:58):
But I just know that when you you had even
before Sauce, when you had Daniel Jones playing the way
that Daniel Jones was playing man, they looked impressive. The
Colts look really impressive. So super competitive division. Not sure
if the Titans are ready to take that step, but
the Jags and the Texans, we know they were playoff teams,
(20:19):
and now you have the Colts who look like a
playoff team for much of for at least half the season.
Really gonna be fun watching the AFC AFC South. That's
a that's gonna be a really competitive three pack, and
we'll see if the Titans can make it a four pack.
Speaking of competitive the AFC West, the Broncos took a
big step up. The Chargers are saying, Hey, we're chomping
(20:41):
at the bit to finally cut it loose and show
you exactly what we Every year. They look excited, Oh,
this might be the Chargers year, and then it's not
the Chargers year. Justin Herbert follows apart in the playoff.
But is this the Chargers year? Well, not so fast,
my friend, as Lee Corso would want to say, because
the Kansas Chiefs are back, are they back? Well, that's
(21:04):
a discussion we're gonna have, Bucky, because you look on
offense and they've added Kennet Taylor's Kenneth Walker. So you
added the running back Pat Mahomes. We know he's going
to be back. He's got the ACL. Terry's coming back.
He's on he's on track. Defensively, there's some subtractions at cornerback,
which should be a concern, should be a legitimate concern
for the Chiefs. But still, Andy Reid, it's still Pat Mahomes.
(21:30):
The offensive line is going to be healthier this year.
Is this the year, Bucky that they say, we understand
that you're a fun little story Chargers all Fernando Mendoz's
with Tom Brady with the Raiders and Ashton Gents. That's great,
and we like what you're doing over there at Denver,
but we're still the Chiefs and when we're healthy, we're
still the team to beat. Is that what has that?
Speaker 3 (21:51):
How you see it? Yeah? I still see them as that.
I think there's some.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Looks, some know how that will help them as they
move forward in terms of being able to play at
a high level. And as long as you have fifteen
Pat Holmes, they talked about him being ahead of schedule
when it comes to returning from his knee injury.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
That gives them a chance.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
But it's not only that, it's the moves that they've
made defensively to help them. And I know there was
a lot of consternation when look, they let two dbs
walk out the door. First they moved on from Trent McDuffie.
They traded them away to the l A. Rams. Then
they go Dylan Watkins as a free agent. He goes
same location and so the Chiefs have to make some moves.
(22:29):
But then when they made the big move, dropped a
big joker to get Manster Delane. It told you they're
back in business. They want to shut down corner that
can make things happen on the perimeter. It's gonna free
Steve Spagnulo up to really come after people. And we've
known when he does the exotic scheming up things, it
is a problem and will continue to be a problem.
And I think just because of that, they're gonna have
(22:51):
a chance.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, you know, they're another team that really has put
some money into the pass rush and they need to
get some of that out. Like George carloftis good player,
they need that second rusher to really pop. This year
they drafted our Mason Thomas in the second round. He's
more of a DPR designated pass rusher, but that's fine.
(23:14):
If you got that juice, you got that juice, and
so you'd like to see him show out early on.
But Peter Woods was their first round pick, lay in
the first, their second first round pick, lay in the first,
and Bucky he's a player that if he's right, he
could add some disruption in the middle. And we all
know that a pass rush. One of the secret sauces
of a good pass rush is getting that disruptor in
(23:35):
the middle. Chris Jones is that guy. He's the preeminent
player in that regard. When it comes to interior rushers.
But if you get a running mate with him who
can cause some can cause a ruckus. If Peter Woods
can cause a ruckus, uh, that that defense is going
to be much much tougher this year, much more consistent
this year.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Yeah, Look, it's gonna be super consistent.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
And like Peter Woods is a guy who is Look,
he is a outstanding talent, and it's just about putting
them together. And I'm hoping that if you put them
alongside Chris Jones, some of that Chris Jones meanness, anger,
violence rubs off on him because if he gets a
little bit, as I think old coaches talking about, man,
you pour a little gunpowder in his mouth and kind
(24:18):
of get him going. Like he certainly can be a
guy that is disruptive. And I know it wasn't reflected
in the stats from his final season, but you saw
the flashes in previous years where he can have some
takeover the game ability. I just like that front line
where you have Peter Woods, Chris Jones, George culoftis a
bunch of energizer bunnies that can come after it. I
(24:38):
think that give him a chance saying let's be real,
they've done it with it without big time defenses. Because
Pat Mahomes is special The specialist doesn't go away with
the injury. It may look different, but I still expect
him to be a major factor. In fact, this injury
can allow him to take his game up to another level,
if that's even possible, because now he might be more
(25:00):
and find to the pocket. It might be a more
quick rhythm passing game that we really haven't seen from
the Chiefs because they've always been big play hunting, big
play hunting. In the Pat Mahomes era, maybe they become
a more efficient offense where he is trying to get
seventy percent completion rate and changes the way they go
after people.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Let me ask you something before we wrap. Justin Fields
deserves a backup. Can you envision Andy Reid coming up
with some packages to make use of Justin Field's legs
and to try to throw defenses off look.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
I think Andy Reid does a great job of working
with backup quarterbacks and he will find a way to
build Justin Fields up to where he is a competent player,
a player that can contribute.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
I wouldn't put it pass him to put.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Him on the field to allow him to do some things,
particularly in those short yard of situations where Pat Mahomes
was doing the touch push, maybe that becomes Justin Fields's
job to take that off of Pat mahomes plate. But
I think this is the best thing that could happen
for Justin Fields as a player to go and get
a look man a graduate degree. Not only playing behind
one of the all timers and Pat Mahomes, but man,
(26:07):
another Hall of Fame coach whispering those sweet nothings in
your ear about playing quarterback, especially when you look at
Andy Reive's history, think about Smith, think about what you
did with Michael Vick, think about the many of other
backup quarterbacks that played well when they got the shot
behind Donovan. Now Justin Fields will have a shot to
grow his game and turning that he can turn himself
(26:28):
into a starter while also helping the Chiefs get back
in the mix.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah yea. So those teams we mentioned, I mean we
got some. There's some teams who have had success. The
Colts probably at the bottom of that. They need a
playoff Chris Ballard, the Colts, Shane Steichen, the entire organization.
They need a playoff appearance and they need to win.
The Ravens more of the same, more than likely. The
(26:52):
Bengals trying to get back there, and they've got a
division where they might be able to do it. And
we'll see how life after Trey Hendrickson is going to
treat them. And then you've got the Chiefs and it's
a it's an improving division. It's an improving division. But
can the Chiefs can they still? Can they extend that run?
That's going to be fun to see if they can.
(27:12):
You know, the Astros couldn't extend in baseball, the Warriors fell.
The Warriors hit a wall. The Astros hit a wall.
It happens to all great organizations for the Chiefs, for
the dog except for your Dodgers. Well, I mean it's easy.
It's easy when you get to pay one hundred thousand
now and a hundred million in about ten years.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Man.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Look, I grew up when lay away was a big
part of our everyday thing.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
Like put it on layaway. You can find up, save
up your little coins and babe and you too a gag.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Yeah, your games back in the day of layaway. I'm
familiar with it. I'm familiar with pitfall. Yeah. So so
it is going to be. It is going to be
interesting to see if if the Chiefs can extend their run.
I'm not sure I believe that, but I I also
so hate bat betting against Patrick Mahomes because it doesn't
(28:02):
usually end will.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
It doesn't end well, but you know what's going to
end well.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
This episode of the Moon to Sit podcast, I got
Lancy spent some time with me today chopping it up
about the teams that are gonna bounce back into AFC.
Until next time, I'm Buggy Brooks's Lancey and
We're going to move to sticks and Bucky Brooks and
once again my man LZ is on the ones and
two's helping me out whatever lance while you're.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Doing it's all right. I got my headphones on going
from the one to the two.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
It's so funny, man.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
The league is so crazy, like we have seen the
topsy turvy nature, the parody of it. All. Other sports
wish that they could really compare and create the interest
that the NFL does. And one of the reasons why
the NFL is always so interesting is just, man, we
are hope dealers. With the conversation that comes out of
(00:41):
free agency and the draft. If you're pulling for a team,
you're a hopeful and optimistic that your team can get
it done in an offseason and bounce back. We talked
about on the last episode where we saw the Patriots
bounce back right away and end up in the super Bowl.
We saw the Seattle Seahawks come from outside uh the
tournament to the inside of tournament and win it.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
And this year there's gonna be some teams.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
On average, it's always four or five new teams that
make the tournament that find a way to do it.
So this week or this episode, we're gonna talk about
the AFC and how the AFC gets down to one
thing that we know about the AFC. Quarterback play typically
drives which teams are in and which teams are out.
So give me a team, Lance, that's you, that's your hot.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
It's funny you you just hit us with that setup.
And yet the teams I'm looking at it in the AFC,
A lot of them were you know, these are former
either high level AFC teams or even former Super Bowl teams.
So the AFC is a little different because you had
so many injuries to quarterbacks and and and top teams
(01:47):
that fell off last year. Well, I'm betting that some
of those teams make their way back in. And I'm
gonna start with the Baltimore Ravens. So the Baltimore Ravens,
we know they lost John Harball. We'll see how big
that loss is gonna be. We talked about it on
the last episode. We think it's very beneficial for the
Giants to have John Harball. When you look at when
(02:10):
you look at the Ravens, I think you're looking at
two things here. How does Lamar Jackson play this year?
You know, how how does how does he does he
get back into form? Does he stay healthy? That's that's
a huge one. But then how does Trey Hendrickson What
impact does he have on this team? Because he is
someone who does get to the quarterback. We know they
(02:31):
they swung and missed on the Max Crosby thing because
the medicals, that is what it is. But they you know,
they they backed that up with the deal for Trey
Hendrickson having that rush. I look at that division. I'm
not convinced the Browns are ready to win. We're going
to talk about the Bengals in just in just a second.
In the AFC. The Pittsburgh Steelers, to me, they feel
(02:53):
they still feel like they're a team in transition. I'm
not sure that they have the quarterback play where they
need to make that move. So I see the Raves
as just another year. I think they come back up.
They are going to be the team to beat that
in that AFC North, And the most important thing I
think is going to be having that rush. I think
(03:13):
Trey Hendrickson having that rush, getting Lamar Jackson dialed back in.
Whether you know whether he had any issue with Harbaugh
or not, you know, there was that stuff was out there,
and then both of the parties said, no, that's not true.
I just know that we have a fresh start with
the Ravens. Let's see how they rally around mentor jesse
Ment with the new head coach. But Bucky, I'm of
(03:34):
the mind that we looked at some really challenging, potentially
challenging NFC East looks like it's going to be very competitive.
The NFC North is extremely competitive. I look at the
AFC North and I look at it a little differently.
I think the Ravens they've been there, They've done that.
I think it's back to the old, familiar back in
the playoffs this year for them.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Oh absolutely, Look man, it was I really don't understand
how they missed out on the playoffs. Just all apart
for them for whatever reason. People will say that maybe
the voice got a little still in the locker room.
John Harbor have been there for almost two decades. Maybe
they just need to refreshing the message around the building.
I'll say this, Jesse Mener is going to operate in
a very similar fashion to John Harbaugh.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Like the Ravens way is the Ravens way. They talked
about it.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
The way they play the physicality and toughness, that's all
a part of their DNA, but they needed some players
to help them. Trey Henderson certainly helps them get back
to that. And then you know, we've talked about it,
like when the Ravens draft guys, you can close your
eyes and be like, yep, that's the rich And I
know we're gonna talk about Bavega yone a ton in
(04:41):
that offense and how they're gonna rebuild the trenches. But
to me, Zion Young was the one, Like when I
looked at him, I was like, heavy handed guy, that's
gonna play on the edges and do that.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
I was like, how many times have we seen this?
Speaker 1 (04:52):
The Darius Smith and others that have played there that
exibit those qualities, Matt Yudon that diipit those qualities. The
Ravens are the Ravens because they have a prototype, and
that prototype is one they tend to lean on. And
when they do that, and they have a collection of
those prototypes, they beat you in prototypical fashion in a
very physical way. And so I'm excited to see that
(05:14):
and how they bounce back. But then really a lot
of it is on Lamar Jackson Lamar Jackson. As he's losing,
I'll say this, some of his athleticism, can he continue
to rise up as a playmaker from the pocket that
has to rely on as arm That will determine if
the Ravens are able to go to the next level,
Because as some of the athleticism comes down and goes away,
(05:38):
can he become more efficient and effective in a pocket
where he can just slice and dice with surgical precision
and beat you as a passer and an exclusive passer
as opposed to the dual threat that he's been most
of his career.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I think to win at the highest level, they have
to have Derick Henry's getting up there in age and
certainly up there and carries. Having Derrick Henry and then
that second back, I guess it's still going to be
Justice Hill having that running game. I just we've seen enough.
While we know Lamar can make a ton of great plays.
Lamar's consistency has has certainly gone up and down in
(06:15):
the playoffs. It's just it's it's not debatable. It's it's
all there on tape, it's all there on paper wherever
you want to look for it. So the best way
to help Lamar Jackson out so that Lamar Jackson can
help you out. Is to make sure that Derrick Henry
in that running game is as good as possible. And
when I look up and down, you know they added
Derm Smythe as a second tight end in place of
(06:37):
Isaiah Likely. What you did was you added a better block.
So from a tight end standpoint, you added the ability
to block a little better at the point of attack.
Because Mark Andrews is we know he's going to be
more of a pass catching tight end. You added John Simpson,
who is a veteran starter in the league coming over
from the Jets. I think John Simpson is going to
be a plug and play starter who will be solid.
(06:58):
I don't know if he's going to be great, but
it'll be solid. That's all you want.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Up front.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Venga Iwani, as you mentioned, is ready to step in
and be a plus guard off the bat, one of
the safer picks in the draft. But he's gonna be
playing next to Corey Bullock. Now, who's Corey Bullock. I'm
glad you asked. That's the starting center right now. One
of the guys. Danny Pinter from Indianapolis Jovon Gwynn who
(07:25):
came over from Atlanta. I mean, they're all gonna be
fighting for Nick Dawkins free agent is gonna be They're
all fighting for a job as a starting center. Can
they replace Tyler Linderbaum? How important do you think losing
that center is it? Center's usually known as the brain trust.
We know they lost a really really good center and
Linderbaum who went to the Raiders. How difficult. You got
(07:46):
two new guards next to him. One is a veteran
starter in John Central with size, the other one is
a first round guard with a lot of talent. How
how important or what role do you think think losing
that center is going to make? Is that overestimated in
this particular case, or do you think it's a legitimate
concern right now for the Ravens.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
No, no, no, I think that's a legitimate concern because ty
the Lindenbaum is a Pro Bowl caliber player and we'll
see quickly in Las Vegas the impact that he has
for the Ravens. Look, he's the brains of the outfit,
and when you have someone that does so much at
the line of scrimmage, it is certainly going to hurt. Now,
some of that will go on the replacement. A lot
of it will now fall to Lamar Jackson to be
(08:29):
able to kind of orchestrate and manage everything at the
line of scrimmage, where maybe linden Baum share some of
those responsibility, maybe he did most of those responsibilities, So
it'll be a bit of a change. But I will
say this, the one thing that I see from the
Ravens offensive line is man, They're big, they're physical, and
they're violent. And when you have big Derrick Henry running
behind them, it's a problem. And then when you add
(08:50):
Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson running behind that front, it's
an even bigger problem. The Ravens just have to settle
in in terms of who they want to be offensively
and make sure that their defense compliments that.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
I have no qualms about the defense on the Jesse Minner.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
The biggest question in the million dollar The question is
what does this offense look like? How do they run
it and who they run it through? When he gets
down to the nitty gritty, yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
You know their defense. Now, they suffered injuries and they
got back on track later in the season. There was
a time during the season where they were atrocious and
you look at the final numbers here. They were twenty
fourth in the league in total yards. That's not Ravens football.
They were eighteenth in the league in points per game.
But when you look at you got Nomde Matabuike, Travis Jones,
(09:37):
Broderick Washington up front, Rokwan Smith there in the middle.
You've added Trey Hendrickson. You've added, as you mentioned, Zion Young,
who if you guys don't know Zion Young, Bucky described
him perfectly. I mean, this is just a really ultra
physical block destructing run defender who's got to get a
little bit better against the pass. But they've got some
(09:58):
talent in the second as well. You need Marlin Hulp
free to play consistently. Malachi Starks is going to have
to prove themselves still. But Nate Wiggins is talented, Kyle
Hamilton is talented. I mean, there's no reason for this
defense this year. If they stay healthy, there's no reason
for them not to be a top ten unit in
both points allowed and yards per game allowed. They should
(10:19):
be top ten. They should get back to where they were.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Man, you talk about getting back to where they were,
did division rival the Cincinnati Bengals are hoping to get
back to where they once were, which was a super
Bowl team, and some would say, if not for maybe
a Tiki Tak kennalty, they should have been Super Bowl champions.
But the Bengals have struggled the last few years. Defense
has been atrocious, abysmal, any of those bad words to
(10:42):
describe things that are bad. They've been that on defense.
But now they get Dexter Lawrence. They bring a handful
of vets over. They go in the draft and kind
of add some more pieces to the puzzle to go
with an offense that can be and should be lights
out with Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase and T Higgins. What
are we thinking about the Bingles them coming back?
Speaker 2 (11:03):
I mean I talked about the reason I like the
Ravens to jump back on top. The same thing for
the Bengals. I think the Steelers and the and the Bengals,
I mean Steelers and Browns, I'm not really sold on them.
So we're left with the Bengals. What do we think
about the Bengals. Well, we know they've got an ultra
talented quarterback and a couple of wide receivers who are
as good or better than everyone else in the league.
We know that for a fact from a running standpoint,
(11:25):
Chase Brown does a nice job of doing exactly what
they're looking for. In Cincinnati. They are sitting pat for
the most part. They did make a couple of picks
in the offense on the offensive line that I like,
Brian Parker and Connor Loo. In my estimation, they have
a chance by next year to be competing for starting
(11:46):
jobs Connor Loo at the center spot, going up against
Ted Carris and then and then Brian Parker, you know,
potentially battling for Dalton Risner spot at the right guard.
So I like a couple of those moves that they
made in free agency. I still think the offensive line
is still really really average, but on the defensive side
(12:07):
of the ball, but they've got enough on offense that
they can score with most teams, so I'm not that
worried there. What they did on defense, this is the
key why I think they've got a shot, because they
added a pass rusher and cashes how that's something that
they really need, especially with Trey Hendrickson gone, Like it's huge,
but they've got to have somebody who can rush. He's
a rookie, so how much can you.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Count on him.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I'm not sure, but you mentioned Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen.
They got much better up the middle. Boye Mafe is
the guy who will you know, he'll give you some
hard play, a charge forward. He's not a great pass rusher,
but he has gotten I think to the nine sack
mark one time in Seattle a couple of years ago.
(12:49):
The secondary they got talent. I love the addition of
Brian Cook into their secondary. Kyle Dugart they're going to
see if he still has something left and they've added
him as a backup there. So when you look at
the the complete I expect the linebacking corps. They were
much maligned last year, but I think Demetrius Knight and
Carter Barrett or Barrett Carter, I think both both linebackers
are going to play better this year. This is Barrett's
(13:13):
or this is Carter's third year in the league. This
is Demetrius Knight's second year in the league. I think
linebacker play gets better. Defensive line, you lost Hendrickson, but
on the whole it's more talented. In my estimation. The
question is can you be consistent defensively? And I think
the secondary in my opinion, gives you a chance to
have some consistency. You've got level one and Level three
(13:34):
should be more consistent this year. And then you add
the offense, which you already believe is going to be
a you know, a strong offense. Why not? Why not?
Why not? The Cincinnati Bengals, I know Joe Burrow is
getting tired of not making the playoffs. I think that's
where a lot of his frustration last year. Standy openly questioned,
you know, it sounded like a question how much he
loved football.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Still.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I would typically be worried about that if I were
an organization, But with Joe, I think it's just frustration
that he loves to win and he's getting tired of
not being in the tournament.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Look, I think that's a big part of it. When
you're not in the tournament, you get frustrated. He's the
alternate competitor when it comes to playing and leading his
team to victory, and so yeah, it's problematic when his
team is not in it. And so we'll see if
the Bengals can bounce back. Look, there's a lot riding
on this for Zach Taylor. They have to get back
into the postseason mix, or there may be a new
guy in charge in Cincinnati. Speaking of new guys in charge,
(14:31):
one of the reasons why the Bengals defense may have
fall the part is because the Colts now have lou
and Aarumo as their defensive coordinator, and two years ago
he was really good, dull enough for the Bengals. The
Bengals didn't think that he was good enough to get
it done. So now he's in his second year with
the Colts, and the Colts are on this list because
they have the makings of being a team that really
(14:52):
really makes it happen. We talked about that division. You're
talking about how people are building their teams to win
the division. The AC South is real and I know,
like people that don't pay attention to the Jags and
the Texans don't know.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
How physical that division is.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
But the Indianapolis Colts are getting closer and closer to
those guys. And last you remember, they started out seven
to one before Daniel Jones kind of fell.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Apart before the injury.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
There's a lot of things to like about the Colts
and why they should be successful in this run under
Daniel Jones.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yeah, so you lose Zire Franklin. You replace him with
CJ Allen, second round pick from Georgia. CJ still got
to learn. He's a rookie, so I'm not gonna I'm
not saying he's better than that. He's going to play
better than Zire Franklin. I think you got a pretty
good player to plug into the middle, and he's a
green dot linebacker. He's someone who will really really work
(15:44):
well with Louie an Arumo. I think he's a good
fit for them. Defensively. AJ Halsey was one of my
favorite linebackers. They got him in a third round and
they will replace Nick Cross with AJ Halsey. That's an
upgrade in my estimation. So I think they get better
in the secondary. Sauce Gardner back healthy makes all the
difference in the world. The real key though, here, Bucky,
(16:05):
is you know the Texans still have questions to answer
with their offense. I think they're going to be fine.
I actually think their offense is going to be much
much improved. They got to prove it. CJ. Stroud has
to prove that he's that guy. We have to see
Jacksonville prove that they can sustain what they were building.
Over the second half of last year, because, as you mentioned, man,
(16:28):
Daniel Jones looked like a different guy last year. Jonathan
Taylor was rolling downhill as he is wont to do.
So the whole key in my opinion. In my opinion
is can the Indianapolis Colts get the same play from
Daniel Jones this year that they got before his injury
last year, Because that Daniel Jones was steering the ship,
(16:50):
he was bringing the ship in most games. The Colts
had some games they lost the game to the Rams
that they could have won late in that game they
blew that one and in the second half of the
season it fell apart after Daniel Jones's injury. But what
I saw before that was a Coats team that reignited
their philosophy of running the football first and being a
(17:12):
physical team. They got back to what they considered to
be Colts football. Early in the season, Daniel Jones looked
like it was a reclamation project. So I'm curious. I
think they got a really I think they got a
real shot to make the playoffs here because the Daniel
Jones I saw before the injury and their desire, their
strong desire to get back to what they think is
(17:32):
Colts football, which is featuring Jonathan Taylor. What I saw
last year looked really really good. How does it look
in year two if he stays healthy?
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Yeah? No, I mean that's the thing we changed.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I can did a great job with Daniel Jones, getting
him up and run, and he looked confident.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
He was playing. Well.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Now what does he do for an encore performers. We
saw this happen with Brian dave Ball with Daniel Jones
in New York.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
It was great.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
They go to the playoffs and then it falls apart.
He isn't able to necessarily up to or play up
to expectation as a forty fifty million.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Dollars quarterback, so he has that weight of.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Expectations on him while also dealing with an achilles that
snapped on him last year. Can he bounce back? Can
he be the player they need him to be? And
Alec Pearce moves up, he levels up. He goes from
the wide receiver too that people didn't pay attention to.
He's averaging twenty yards per catch and scoring touchdowns on everybody,
routing people cooking them as young people say, well, now
(18:31):
he's the number one and when you become the number
one in that offense, like more attention. How does he
handle the weight of responsibility that comes with being the
number one and then just getting the ball to the
other playmate Josh Downs, Tyler Warren making sure that they
are factors in this offense and indefensively, what can they
do to continue to evolve? Evolve it like we are
(18:51):
still waiting to see some of these pass russues that
we talked about in drafts past for years show up.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
So these guys need to show up.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
And I know one thing, we both love Chris Ballad
and what he's done, and he is a traits guy.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Man.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
These traits have to turn into some kind of performance
in production. It's gonna be hard on to keep up
with their vision, Robb.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
They gotta get they got to get more rush. I mean,
there's no way around it. They've spent so much draft
capital and they put so much into rushing the quarterback.
I know that's huge over there. They really want that
in Indianapolis. Lat two's got to take step forward this year.
He's got to be one of those guys I think
who steps forward. There's only so much you can get
from the interior so the Edges are going to have
(19:33):
to start pressing a little stronger. Yeah, and coming back
from achilles, it's no given. That's a demanding position to
have an achilles injury. So we'll see him. And there's
two They didn't have a first round pick this year
and they won't have one this upcoming year, and then
in the twenty twenty seven draft because they gave that
up for for Sauce Gardner. So we'll see how Sauce performance.
(19:58):
But I just know that when you you had even
before Sauce, when you had Daniel Jones playing the way
that Daniel Jones was playing man, they looked impressive. The
Colts look really impressive. So super competitive division. Not sure
if the Titans are ready to take that step, but
the Jags and the Texans, we know they were playoff teams,
(20:19):
and now you have the Colts who look like a
playoff team for much of for at least half the season.
Really gonna be fun watching the AFC AFC South. That's
a that's gonna be a really competitive three pack, and
we'll see if the Titans can make it a four pack.
Speaking of competitive the AFC West, the Broncos took a
big step up. The Chargers are saying, Hey, we're chomping
(20:41):
at the bit to finally cut it loose and show
you exactly what we Every year. They look excited, Oh,
this might be the Chargers year, and then it's not
the Chargers year. Justin Herbert follows apart in the playoff.
But is this the Chargers year? Well, not so fast,
my friend, as Lee Corso would want to say, because
the Kansas Chiefs are back, are they back? Well, that's
(21:04):
a discussion we're gonna have, Bucky, because you look on
offense and they've added Kennet Taylor's Kenneth Walker. So you
added the running back Pat Mahomes. We know he's going
to be back. He's got the ACL. Terry's coming back.
He's on he's on track. Defensively, there's some subtractions at cornerback,
which should be a concern, should be a legitimate concern
for the Chiefs. But still, Andy Reid, it's still Pat Mahomes.
(21:30):
The offensive line is going to be healthier this year.
Is this the year, Bucky that they say, we understand
that you're a fun little story Chargers all Fernando Mendoz's
with Tom Brady with the Raiders and Ashton Gents. That's great,
and we like what you're doing over there at Denver,
but we're still the Chiefs and when we're healthy, we're
still the team to beat. Is that what has that?
Speaker 3 (21:51):
How you see it? Yeah? I still see them as that.
I think there's some.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Looks, some know how that will help them as they
move forward in terms of being able to play at
a high level. And as long as you have fifteen
Pat Holmes, they talked about him being ahead of schedule
when it comes to returning from his knee injury.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
That gives them a chance.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
But it's not only that, it's the moves that they've
made defensively to help them. And I know there was
a lot of consternation when look, they let two dbs
walk out the door. First they moved on from Trent McDuffie.
They traded them away to the l A. Rams. Then
they go Dylan Watkins as a free agent. He goes
same location and so the Chiefs have to make some moves.
(22:29):
But then when they made the big move, dropped a
big joker to get Manster Delane. It told you they're
back in business. They want to shut down corner that
can make things happen on the perimeter. It's gonna free
Steve Spagnulo up to really come after people. And we've
known when he does the exotic scheming up things, it
is a problem and will continue to be a problem.
And I think just because of that, they're gonna have
(22:51):
a chance.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, you know, they're another team that really has put
some money into the pass rush and they need to
get some of that out. Like George carloftis good player,
they need that second rusher to really pop. This year
they drafted our Mason Thomas in the second round. He's
more of a DPR designated pass rusher, but that's fine.
(23:14):
If you got that juice, you got that juice, and
so you'd like to see him show out early on.
But Peter Woods was their first round pick, lay in
the first, their second first round pick, lay in the first,
and Bucky he's a player that if he's right, he
could add some disruption in the middle. And we all
know that a pass rush. One of the secret sauces
of a good pass rush is getting that disruptor in
(23:35):
the middle. Chris Jones is that guy. He's the preeminent
player in that regard. When it comes to interior rushers.
But if you get a running mate with him who
can cause some can cause a ruckus. If Peter Woods
can cause a ruckus, uh, that that defense is going
to be much much tougher this year, much more consistent
this year.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Yeah, Look, it's gonna be super consistent.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
And like Peter Woods is a guy who is Look,
he is a outstanding talent, and it's just about putting
them together. And I'm hoping that if you put them
alongside Chris Jones, some of that Chris Jones meanness, anger,
violence rubs off on him because if he gets a
little bit, as I think old coaches talking about, man,
you pour a little gunpowder in his mouth and kind
(24:18):
of get him going. Like he certainly can be a
guy that is disruptive. And I know it wasn't reflected
in the stats from his final season, but you saw
the flashes in previous years where he can have some
takeover the game ability. I just like that front line
where you have Peter Woods, Chris Jones, George culoftis a
bunch of energizer bunnies that can come after it. I
(24:38):
think that give him a chance saying let's be real,
they've done it with it without big time defenses. Because
Pat Mahomes is special The specialist doesn't go away with
the injury. It may look different, but I still expect
him to be a major factor. In fact, this injury
can allow him to take his game up to another level,
if that's even possible, because now he might be more
(25:00):
and find to the pocket. It might be a more
quick rhythm passing game that we really haven't seen from
the Chiefs because they've always been big play hunting, big
play hunting. In the Pat Mahomes era, maybe they become
a more efficient offense where he is trying to get
seventy percent completion rate and changes the way they go
after people.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Let me ask you something before we wrap. Justin Fields
deserves a backup. Can you envision Andy Reid coming up
with some packages to make use of Justin Field's legs
and to try to throw defenses off look.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
I think Andy Reid does a great job of working
with backup quarterbacks and he will find a way to
build Justin Fields up to where he is a competent player,
a player that can contribute.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
I wouldn't put it pass him to put.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Him on the field to allow him to do some things,
particularly in those short yard of situations where Pat Mahomes
was doing the touch push, maybe that becomes Justin Fields's
job to take that off of Pat mahomes plate. But
I think this is the best thing that could happen
for Justin Fields as a player to go and get
a look man a graduate degree. Not only playing behind
one of the all timers and Pat Mahomes, but man,
(26:07):
another Hall of Fame coach whispering those sweet nothings in
your ear about playing quarterback, especially when you look at
Andy Reive's history, think about Smith, think about what you
did with Michael Vick, think about the many of other
backup quarterbacks that played well when they got the shot
behind Donovan. Now Justin Fields will have a shot to
grow his game and turning that he can turn himself
(26:28):
into a starter while also helping the Chiefs get back
in the mix.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah yea. So those teams we mentioned, I mean we
got some. There's some teams who have had success. The
Colts probably at the bottom of that. They need a
playoff Chris Ballard, the Colts, Shane Steichen, the entire organization.
They need a playoff appearance and they need to win.
The Ravens more of the same, more than likely. The
(26:52):
Bengals trying to get back there, and they've got a
division where they might be able to do it. And
we'll see how life after Trey Hendrickson is going to
treat them. And then you've got the Chiefs and it's
a it's an improving division. It's an improving division. But
can the Chiefs can they still? Can they extend that run?
That's going to be fun to see if they can.
(27:12):
You know, the Astros couldn't extend in baseball, the Warriors fell.
The Warriors hit a wall. The Astros hit a wall.
It happens to all great organizations for the Chiefs, for
the dog except for your Dodgers. Well, I mean it's easy.
It's easy when you get to pay one hundred thousand
now and a hundred million in about ten years.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Man.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Look, I grew up when lay away was a big
part of our everyday thing.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
Like put it on layaway. You can find up, save
up your little coins and babe and you too a gag.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Yeah, your games back in the day of layaway. I'm
familiar with it. I'm familiar with pitfall. Yeah. So so
it is going to be. It is going to be
interesting to see if if the Chiefs can extend their run.
I'm not sure I believe that, but I I also
so hate bat betting against Patrick Mahomes because it doesn't
(28:02):
usually end will.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
It doesn't end well, but you know what's going to
end well.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
This episode of the Moon to Sit podcast, I got
Lancy spent some time with me today chopping it up
about the teams that are gonna bounce back into AFC.
Until next time, I'm Buggy Brooks's Lancey and
Hosts And Creators
Daniel Jeremiah
Bucky Brooks
Popular Podcasts
Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb
Joy is essential. And it's also elusive. You can't order it, borrow it, or simply hope it into life. But now, there's a new and exciting way to start your journey toward a more joyful existence: The Joy 101 Podcast with Hoda! Best known for her Emmy-winning work and co-anchoring Today, Hoda Kotb infuses her authenticity, curiosity, and warmth into conversations with the world’s most fascinating people. Entertainment legends, sport icons, wellness experts, and everyday folks will share how they find, allow, and experience joy. Hoda will offer her own tips and takes on seeking a more balanced, harmonious life. If you're craving inspiration, support, and useful tools to maximize your joy, tune in to these candid, uplifting, and moving on-air chats. Joy after a breakup, joy as an empty-nester, joy after loss, joy as a caretaker — Hoda's new podcast will speak to you. Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb, an iHeartPodcast.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com